St. Charles Playground Donated for Underserved Children

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St. Charles Park District donated the Red Gate Park playground to Kids Around the World​, a not-for-profit organization that collects used playground equipment and redistributes it to communities across the globe.

“We are thrilled to learn that this playground can be repurposed to provide children with recreation opportunities in an underserved community or village in another part of the world," said Laura Rudow, Superintendent of Parks & Planning. ​

The District regularly evaluates playground features for current safety standards and has a rotating schedule in its capital improvement plan for replacements or renovations. As part of this process, staff contacts KATW to see if the existing features can be useful. Some playgrounds are easier to rebuild and retrofit than others.

“In the last 10 years, our District has donated three playgrounds," added Rudow. “It's rewarding to know that the equipment will be appreciated and bring joy to children rather than end up as scrap or in a landfill."

According to the KATW website, 1,043 playgrounds have been built in 64 countries since 1994 with 55 of them in 2022.